No Brits left in US Open singles - but are there reasons to be positive?

Arthur Fery's extraordinary run to the Wimbledon semi-finals is the clear highlight.The 24-year-old was ranked 114th in the world and needed a wildcard to play at the All England Club, but took full advantage to produce a performance which nobody could have predicted.Fery was the only player to reach the second week at a Slam this year and has been heralded by British tennis bosses as proof their talent development pathway is working.Nine Britons competing in the US Open main-draw singles - the most since 1981- is also highlighted as a sign of recent improvement.That figure does not include 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu and Jack Draper, who both missed out with long-term injuries."We obviously want more and more competitors in the second week of Slams - just like the British public," said LTA chief executive Scott Lloyd."But the fact we've had four different British players make Grand Slam semi-finals since 2021 - you have to go back 30 years before Andy Murray to have four - shows there is no question that the direction of travel has improved."We've just got to keep driving for more - and that's what we're trying to do day in and day out."But Britain cannot simply "pick up a plan" of what others are doing as every country has its own "tennis ecosystem", says Bourne.Lloyd adds: "We're competing in one of the most internationally elite sports out there and the landscape is vastly different to 40 or 50 years ago in terms of the number of countries which have representation at the top."We're ambitious, we want to drive for more, but we honestly believe the indicators are positive. We're moving in the right direction and stronger than where we have been historically."Encouraging more British children to pick up a racquet from an early age is crucial to developing the next generation of stars.Draper, Raducanu and Fery - who entered the LTA system at a young age - provide the blueprint.There are 4.3m juniors playing tennis annually with 1.9m playing every month, which Lloyd says are both all-time records.But there is a concern that a lack of high-level coaching is stunting the development of many more promising talents.Bourne admits the UK needs a "higher base" of coaches, adding that one of the LTA's key strategies is "spending time and effort" on developing them.Chris Marshall, a senior performance coach with over 25 years' experience, fears many youngsters are being priced out of tennis because parents cannot afford quality coaching."To fund a 12-year-old at county level right now requires anywhere from £500 to £1,000 a month for coaching, travel, and tournament fees," Marshall, who founded the Young Champs programme to provide free and discounted coaching for children, told BBC Sport."It is a massive, stressful financial barrier that makes the sport a non-starter for the vast majority of British families."We can't sit around lamenting the lack of British interest in the second week when we are restricting the pipeline that feeds it."